New dance drill, cheerleading majorette federation creates more opportunities

The Federation of Dance Drill, Cheerleading and Majorette Sport South Africa (FDDCMSA) was only founded in October 2020 and already has just under 100 members and 29 teams on board. They want to focus on growing the youth of South Africa and give girls and boys the opportunity to do what they love.

Christine Kruger, the president of the majorette sports section of the federation explained why they decided to start the new federation.

“We were all part of the previous organisation, and we felt change was not happening fast enough to keep up with the ever-growing sporting federation in South Africa,” she said.

She explained that the federation has three pillars. Under Cheerleading they have South African Cheerleading that is an affiliate in its own right, has its own board members and runs its own competitions.

The Marching Band section falls under Dance Drill. It does not currently have its own affiliated structure in South Africa. Christine said they were very excited about this section and explained that they have reached out to the Western Cape Marching Band Association, which has signed on to join their federation. This will enable them to have their own competitions and national championships.

Lastly is the Majorette Sports section that recently opened up its categories of Mini, Solo, Duo and Trio formations in Mace, Pom Dance, Non-prop and Flag. There are also Small Drill, Large Drill, Flag group, Mace group, Pom Dance group, Non-prop group, Baton group, Open Dance, Show and Defile.

She added that they have tried to do away with the stigma that drum majorettes is an expensive elitist sport.

“People think it is glitzy and glamorous, which we don’t want to do away with, but not everybody can afford a uniform of R3 500.”

So they have decided to pair back on the uniforms and as long as the contestants look neat and presentable they can come in a T-shirt and PT shorts. Teams also do not have to compete in every category to feature, leaving them the opportunity to focus on one specific category.

“We have also reduced the field sizes so that it is available for everybody, even if they have limited practice space at their schools or their clubs. Now with a smaller field it will make it easier for them to get a section to practice on.”

Some of the West Rand teams that will participate in future competitions are Hoërskool Jan Viljoen, Randfontein Primary School, Laerskool Krugersdorp-Noord, Silver Synergy, Drummy Nation and Roodebeeck.

The Gauteng Chair, Sonja Nortman, said they were very proud to have three female chairs on their board of directors. The board consists of Christine Kruger, Francois Marais, Beven Fry, Sonja and Palessa Chele, the Vice President.

“We are very proud and looking forward to the future of the sport, and obviously growing the youth in our country, which is our main focus,” said Christine.